Why am I being asked to fill out a provisional ballot? Here’s the explanation.
The provisional ballot is Georgia’s contingency plan for voters with last-minute problems on Election Day.
It lets people who otherwise would not be allowed to vote cast tentative ballots that can be counted later, after the Election Day issue is resolved.
For example, if they forget to bring a photo ID and don’t have time to retrieve it, they can cast a provisional ballot, and within three days bring their ID to the local elections office. Election staff verifying that identification then recommend the county elections board count that ballot when the board certifies the election results.
Other circumstances that allow a provisional ballot are:
- If voters issued a mail-in absentee ballot decide instead to vote in person, but do not bring the absentee ballot to the precinct to show it wasn’t cast. If the poll worker is unable to reach the elections office to cancel the absentee ballot, a provisional ballot may be cast.
- If voters’ names are not on the rolls, but they believe they are registered.
- If voters go to the wrong precinct and do not have time to make it to the correct polling site to vote.
Georgia law says those filing a provisional ballot must fill out a registration form and a voting certificate that lists “the place, manner, and approximate date on which the person registered to vote.”
They must swear in writing that they’re registered to vote, that they remain eligible to, and that they’ve not already voted in the election.
Also they must be voting in the county where they are registered.
For example, Muscogee County voters who haven’t time to make it to their neighborhood voting precinct on Election Day may file a provisional ballot at a closer Muscogee County precinct. But if they’re registered in Harris County and can’t make it to their precinct in time, they can’t file a provisional ballot here in Muscogee County.
If the provisional ballot includes races in which the voters are not eligible to vote — such as contests for local, state or congressional districts they don’t live in — then those votes will not be counted, but all others will, when the elections board approves the ballot.
Provisional ballots also may be filed in emergencies such as voting machine breakdowns or other circumstances that preclude voting on the ballot-marking devices Georgia now uses.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 6:50 AM with the headline "Why am I being asked to fill out a provisional ballot? Here’s the explanation.."